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CT EMS SWORD Statewide Opioid Reporting Directive Newsletter

August 2019, Issue III

reduction and syringe services professionals. The brief

narrative EMS gives to the Connecticut Poison Control

Center (CPCC) Specialists is particularly important in

providing context to any potential cluster of deadly

batches. In some cases overdose spikes have been

determined to be unrelated, in other cases, links have

been clearly identified thanks to Emergency Medical

Services (EMS) reports. Each and every call EMS makes

to the CPCC is an important piece of the puzzle and

helps with both immediate response to spikes and long-

term planning to address trends.

Keep up the great work!

How does the State of Connecticut Department of

Public Health monitor for overdose spikes?

The Department of Public Health’s (DPH) Syndromic

Surveillance Program monitors emergency

department visits in near real-time to track

suspected overdoses.

The DPH Office of Emergency Medical Services

(OEMS) StateWide Opioid Reporting Directive

(SWORD) initiative collects data on all overdoses

that Emergency Medical Services responds to,

whether or not the patient is transported to the

hospital, refuses transport, or is presumed on

scene.

The Office of the Connecticut Medical Examiner

(OCME) reports data on fatal overdoses, although in

many cases, this information is not available to

health authorities until several days after the fact.

Both the Syndromic Surveillance Program and SWORD

have automatic spike alerts that send out email

notifications to the Department of Public Health when

spikes are detected. The SWORD data which is also

entered into the Overdose Detection Mapping

Application Program (ODMAP) enables authorities to

quickly review case narratives and locations to

determine if the overdoses are related and, if so,

identify potential deadly batches for harm reduction

professionals on the street. Since the program began,

the DPH has reviewed several outbreaks in Hartford,

Waterbury, New Haven, Torrington and Norwich to gain

a near real-time understanding of what may be

happening. This information is also shared with Local

Health Departments and Districts as well as harm

KUDOS: Dan Skelly, George Pardell, Heather Lee, John Albini, Liam Davis, Marissa McCarrone, Miles Garrison, Tereza Goring and all who have called in SWORD cases to the CPCC. Keep up the great work!

State of CT ODMAP view for July 2019

Statewide Opioid Reporting Directive Newsletter

August 2019, Issue III, Page 2/4

SWORD Statewide Reporting July 2019

Results from the second full month of SWORD reporting are in! The Connecticut Poison Control Center received 477

calls in July, including 353 naloxone administrations and 40 fatalities. The data is entered into Toxicall and ODMAP

software, which will assist local public health departments, public safety and community agencies such as harm reduc-

tion, better target their response to this epidemic that has killed over 1,000 Connecticut residents in each of the last

two years.

Reporting FAQ

I called the CPCC and was put on hold for several minutes. I am very busy and cannot wait.

In most cases, your call will be answered immediately and the call should only take 2-4 minutes. There are times when, just like in EMS, the poison center is at level zero, with specialists dispensing emergency information to poison victims or their families, or giving advice to physicians managing emergency cases. Calls have to be prioritized. The poison specialist may either ask you to call back later or take your number and call you back. Thanks for your patience.

Calls to CPCC Naloxone Administrations Fatalities

Jun-19 496 388 41

Jul-19 477 353 40

496

388

41

477

353

40

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

Statewide Totals - June 1 to July 31, 2019

Jun-19 Jul-19

Statewide Opioid Reporting Directive Newsletter

August 2019, Issue III, Page 3/4

0 100 200 300 400 500

Non-Fatal/No Naloxone

Non-Fatal/Multiple Doses

Non-Fatal/Single Dose

Reported Non-Fatal Statewide OverdosesJune 1-July 31, 2019

0 10 20 30 40 50

Fatal/No Naloxone

Fatal/Multiple Dose

Fatal/Single Dose

Reported Fatal Statewide OverdosesJune 1-July 31, 2019

Pictured above are three of the “brands” photographed on EMS scenes

Statewide Opioid Reporting Directive Newsletter

August 2019, Issue III, Page 4/4

Thank you for your participation!

Office of Emergency Medical Services

ODMAP Access for EMS, Fire Departments, Hospitals, Law Enforcement and Local Health

ODMAP is available to government (tribal, local, state, and federal) entities serving the interests of public safety and/

or public health. ODMAP is also available to licensed first responder agencies and hospitals. Once you have signed a

participation agreement, you will be able to view the ODMAP along with certain charts like the graph at the bottom of

the page which shows suspected overdoses per day.

Once you gain Level 2 access, your agency may view real-time overdose data. The Overdose Spike Response Frame-

work is a resource that can guide development of a local Overdose Response Plan.

Agencies will want to 1) first request Agency Access and then 2) decide an Agency Administrator (who can set alerts)

and then 3) create Level 2 users.

*Note: All data in this newsletter comes from reports made by CT EMS and can be viewed in ODMAP Level 2*

Click here to contact OEMS with any questions regarding SWORD or ODMAP

Click here to check out the SWORD page on our website